Rolled over (back to tummy), slowly getting over her sleep regression, has giggles a few times this month, loves to be in the center of everything, can hold things fairly well now, had some chest congestion, still drooling like a faucet, really wants to sit up, enjoys bouncing in her jolly jumper, loves to splash at bath time, flat out refuses a bottle

5 months old! How is this little girl five months old already?! Where is the time going? This past month has been one fraught with many challenges, mainly due to my knee surgery but also in large part due to Reese’s sleep regression (although, things are finally looking up on that front!!). Juggling 3 children under 5 while being immobile has been one of the greatest trials of motherhood, it has made me so thankful for all the blessings in my life. Being temporarily laid up has really put things into perspective for me. My cousin Dana (who’s a super human) and my mother-in-law both came and stayed with us this month to help out during the last 2 weeks I had to be on crutches. They were both God sends and I’m just so blessed to have such a wonderful support system. While I’m off crutches now, I’m still in a straight leg brace and have to ‘peg leg’ around, but still, this is a VAST improvement.

Reese loves to roll over now. If I put her down on her back, she’ll quickly roll over onto her tummy and then immediately start protesting the fact that she’s on her tummy. She can roll back over, but for whatever reason, she simply doesn’t and instead has decided that screaming to be rescued is the way to go. This girl has a flare for the dramatic, I can already tell.

We got her a jolly jumper this month and every time I put her in there I can barely hold back my own giggles, she looks like a teeny tiny river dancer while in it. It’s hilarious but she absolutely loves it!

This baby will not take a bottle, which is a problem because with her sleep so erratic I never know when she’s going to wake up and need to be nursed, which means I’m afraid to leave her with anyone and Raf and I are in sore need of a date night. She has been sleeping a bit better. I generally am able to nurse her and then put her down in our bed, surrounded by a pillow blockade, and she’ll drift off to sleep happily. This is fairly new though so I’m still hesitant to rock the boat and attempt to put her to sleep in her bassinet. Lately, she’s been doing a 3 hour stretch in the evening, which is way better than the waking up every hour that she was doing last month. However, even that isn’t consistent and therefore can’t really be relied on. She’s basically moved into our bed and she seems quite content to stay there.

Reese continues to smile more and more but she’s a tough crowd when it comes to laughing. I mean I’ve only been able to make her laugh heartily one time and have been able to illicit the barest of giggles a handful of time and usually only be tickling her, at which point, it really only seems like she’s doing it to make me stop. She’s my serious girl for sure.

Asher and Bennett continue to fawn all over Reese and it’s basically the sweetest thing ever. She’s a very good sport about it, even when Asher insists on picking her up, or rolling her over (to rescue her from tummy time) and inadvertently hurts her, or when Bennett sit on her for reasons only she knows. Reese is certainly a luckly little girl and we’re clearly all obessed with her.